


friendship

by brightclam



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Don't copy to other sites, Gen, entraptra and scorpia and catra redemption arc, eventually, how catra accidently becomes friends with entraptra and scorpia, with some scorpia background I've made up
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-15
Updated: 2019-05-22
Packaged: 2019-10-10 12:08:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17425607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brightclam/pseuds/brightclam
Summary: After Adora, Catra doesn't want any more friendships. They'll only make her weak, and now that she's Hordak's second in command, she has to be at her best. Unfortunately for her, Entraptra and Scorpia have other ideas. Ideas that center around that horrible weakness: Friendship.





	1. the beginning

**Author's Note:**

> There will be no shipping in this story, as we don't know the characters ages and that makes me uncomfortable. This story is set directly after the end of season one.
> 
> for Scorpia's backstory, Scorpia seems to have some interest in healing in canon so I just brought that out a little further.

\---------

Catra runs her fingers through her hair as she walks towards the interrogation room-turned-lab where her, Entraptra, and Scorpia have recently made their home. She’s teasing her sleep ruffled hair back into the carefully planned messy mane that she prefers. There’s a difference between looking messy and looking like you stuck your claw in an energy conduit. Not that looking good matters much in the horde, but she likes to make the effort anyways.

Once she reaches the lab, the door slides open obediently for her. Every horde soldier's dna is on file and the doors are keyed to scan and recognize them, which makes it much more convenient than having to swipe key cards like they used to. As the door slides open Catra’s ears twitch and fold backwards; she can already hear Entraptra’s excited jabbering. The princess’s enthusiasm and skill are impressive, and maybe even endearing, if it didn't hurt Catra’s delicate ears so much.

As expected, Entraptra is recording notes into the little handheld recorder she never lets go of. Every part of her is gesturing along as she speaks, except for one unusually still hand, which is gently clasped in one of Scorpia’s large claws. At first Catra thinks they’re holding hands---she wouldn’t be surprised: physical displays of affection come so easily to them that Catra feels a bit lost. But with a second look, she can see that Scorpia is wrapping a small bit of bandage around one of Entraptra’s fingers, which is bleeding from a small but deep cut.

At about the same moment, Scorpia tapes the edge of the bandage down and releases Entraptra’s hand, letting her go spinning across the room to clamber up a piece of machinery, still talking incessantly. Scorpia turns to Catra, already smiling her huge and---as far as Catra can tell---completely genuine smile. Catra suddenly feels the need to leave again, crawl back under her covers, and never have to interact with anyone ever again, but that’s really not an option. It’s not Scorpia’s fault either, she’s only being an attentive subcommander, but Catra can’t get what she’d done to Adora, the loss at Bright Moon, and the huge responsibility of being Hordak’s second in command out of her mind.

She had wanted to prove herself worthy, and gain power, and now she had. But now she’s also realizing that she’d gotten herself into something with no real escape plan. Shadow Weaver had been Hordak’s second for years, and he had thrown her away without a thought as soon as she failed. Catra won’t fail, she can’t, but she still knows her position is precarious. Life has never been easy for her, but now one mistake can mean her death---and possibly Scorpia and Entraptra’s as well. At least when she was second best to Adora, the only person who paid for her mistakes was herself. This is more responsibility than she feels ready to handle.

But she’s done more in the last few days than anyone, including herself, thought possible. She’ll make this work too. So she does her best to smile back at Scorpia---although it probably comes out more like a smirk---and asks:

“How’re we doing, Scorpia?”

Scorpia salutes cheerily and launches into her report:

“We’re doing great, Catra! Entraptra has fixed the damage to the machines from the backlash during the battle. And when she cut herself I made sure to fix her up!”

Scorpia giggles, throwing a fond glance at the princess.

“She didn’t even notice it! She was too excited about her work.”

Catra nods and strides past Scorpia to squint at the machines she doesn’t understand, which are once again blinking with happy green lights. She turns back to Scorpia and replies:

“Thank you Scorpia. But that wasn’t necessary, it was just a cut.”

Scorpia instantly switches from happy to concerned, rushing to Catra’s side.

“It wasn’t just a cut! It could get infected. You both need to take better care of yourselves!”

She worriedly looks Catra over, checking for wounds. Catra pushes down the urge to shove her away. She tries not snarl, but her voice still comes out rough with irritation:

“Scorpia, why are you always so concerned? You know Hordack doesn’t approve of worrying about our health.”

Catra hadn’t meant it like a rebuke, more like legitimate interest, but Scorpia acts like it was one. She takes a step back, laughing nervously.

“Sorry Catra. My mom was a healer, so I guess I picked it up from her.”

Catra can’t stop her surprised gasp; almost no one in the horde can remember their birth parents.

“You can remember your mom?”

Scorpia looks down, shoulders curling in and eyes going sad.

“I mean, not much. She was declared a traitor when I was very young. But when she was around, she was always trying to heal people. Something about her connection to the garnet, I think.”

Scorpia’s claws are snapping open and shut and her tail is whipping back and forth; obvious signs of distress. Catra is hit with a sudden wave of guilt, an emotion she’s been feeling unusually often lately. Her first instinct is to lash out--she wasn’t trying to make Scorpia sad, it’s not her fault---but she barely manages not to. Scorpia is good natured and very used to life in the horde; she wouldn't hold it against Catra if she did snap at her. But Catra doesn’t want to make her feel worse, so she swallows down her pride and does the emotional equivalent of pulling teeth: she apologizes.

“I’m sorry, Scorpia. I didn’t mean to bring up a tender subject.”

Scorpia blinks, looking surprised, before grinning widely and rushing forwards to pull Catra into a hug. Catra hisses, hating the feeling of her feet coming off the floor and being trapped, but doesn’t resist. Scorpia speaks:

“It’s alright! I don’t mind telling my friends about her.”

Catra flinches at the word friend; she doesn’t use it lightly, and she had been trying not to get attached to Scorpia and Entraptra. Unfortunately, she seems to have failed on that front. It makes her claws itch, the vulnerability of having people she cares about, the weakness it instils in her. Before she can ask Scorpia to put her down, Entaptra comes swinging down from the wall and squeals:

“Oooh, group hug time!”

The princess flings herself against Catra’s back, knocking the air out of her, and wraps both her arms and her hair around her and Scorpia. Scorpia cheers, even more enthused by Entraptra joining the hug. Catra just tries to breath deeply, the extra contact making her feel like she’s going to crawl out of her skin. Finally, the pair let go and her feet are back on solid ground. She quickly takes a couple steps back to put more space between them. They’re both grinning at her, looking happier than she’s ever seen her. She huffs, pushing down the faint warmth of affection growing in her, and orders them:

“Alright, sappy hug time is over! Get back to work!”

They laugh and turn back to the machines, leaving her with a wealth of new feelings she needs to work through. Despite her best efforts, she’s become very attached to them, and that’s a weakness that could be exploited.

\---------


	2. sleeping arrangements

\--------  
Catra storms through the lab door, her skin crawling with anger and fear. Despite the frequency of her reports to Hordak, she never gets used to them. He never screams at her or hurts her like Shadow Weaver did, but his very presence feels like a physical weight pressing down on her.

His coldness, his cruelty, the faint buzz of his magic in her veins. She may be his second in command, but he thinks of her as insignificant as any other horde soldier, waiting to die at his command. It makes her blood boil, and makes a much smaller part of her want to cower.

After defeating Shadow Weaver, she wants to rip anyone with power over her down. She wants to drag Hordak off his throne and leave him just as broken as she left Shadow Weaver. No one is allowed to control her. Not any more.

She’s not strong enough for that yet. But she doesn’t want to live like this forever. She wants to be free one day: to actually live without someone’s boot on her neck. It’s just a matter of how to get there…

She shocked out of her dark thoughts when she enters the lab which is, strangely, almost completely silent. No clatter of tools or excited voices, just the quiet background hum of the machines running. Her ears twitch, just barely catching deep, slow breathing. 

At first she doesn’t see Entraptra and Scorpia, looking for them at eye level. It’s only when she scans the floor that she notices them, curling into each other in the floor. Scorpia’s large frame is wrapped around Entaptra’s smaller one, her tail carefully hooked over the princess’s waist.

Scorpia is deeply asleep, but Entraptra shifts as Catra steps closer. Her prehensile hair loosens it’s hold on Scorpia to curl towards Cartra and she peeks over Scorpia’s shoulder, red eyes gleaming in the dim light. Catra, too distracted by her anger, hadn’t noticed it had gotten dark outside.

Catra slept in her own room, and hadn’t considered where Entraptra and Scorpia slept before. Their personal lives were not her concern. Still, it strikes her as strange that they’re sleeping on the floor in the drafty lab. There’s a blanket under them, at least. 

As Catra approaches, Entraptra watches her, blinking slowly, sleepily, and waiting for Catra to speak. Catra crouches down to a squat; standing over Entraptra and looking down on her had suddenly felt to much like Hordak looming down from his throne. Here, she can look Entraptra in the eyes.

“What are you two doing here?”

Entraptra frowns, confusion clear on her face. Then she speaks as loudly as ever, which somehow doesn’t awaken Scorpia:

“What do you mean? I’m your guy’s prisoner, Scorpia’s not supposed to let me out of this room.”

She says it so matter of factly, so unbothered by her situation that it takes Catra aback. She remember ordering Scorpia to watch Entraptra, and yes she had been a prisoner before, but she didn’t think of her that way now. Had she really forgotten to let them know that? She hisses, her tail twitching; yes, she doesn’t need to tell them of her plans because they’re her subordinates, but she should have remember to tell them that much. And Scorpia, always loyal, made sure to follow orders to the letter, which in this case turned out to mean not letting Entraptra sleep outside of the lab. Catra can’t blame her for that; not following orders exactly is an easy way to get punished or demoted.

Entraptra is trustworthy enough to be given a bed in the barracks now, but Scorpia wouldn’t change her behavior unless Catra changed her orders. Years of horde training had made sure of that; blind obedience is what Hordak looks for in all of his followers. Here comes the guilt again; creeping into Catra’s stomach.

Entraptra must notice her unease; she sends a tendril of hair over to pat Catra’s shoulder.

“It’s alright, this way I get to stay with Emily and all of my machines!”

The rewritten drone, perched on the wall closest to Entrapatra, beeps happily and waves a leg at them.

“Plus, Scorpia’s doing a great job keeping me warm. She said you horde soldiers always huddle together to keep warm.”

It’s true; there’s limited space in the barracks and the fright zone is kept purposely cold to keep the soldiers on edge. Catra remembers huddling together with Adora, and occasionally their other squadmates, in their youth. Scorpia must have experienced the same and made the logical jump to huddle with Entraptra. The princess shrugs, still looking confused, and comments:

“I told her I could just turn the heating up but she said that was against the rules. So this works fine, even if it’s less efficient. You guys do know it’s less healthy to keep it this cold all the time, right?”

Catra hums, but Entraptra cuts her off with an unexpected offer:

“Would you like to join us?”

She pushes away from Scorpia slightly, making her shift and mumble in her sleep, leaving a perfect space between them for Catra to slip into. Her first instinct is to pull away---the memory of being curled up on Adora’s bed still too fresh---but the warm space is so tempting. Physically, she’s been so cold sleeping alone, and emotionally, she’s just plain lonely.

Entraptra is offering their warmth and comfort so easily, as if sleeping together isn’t a huge thing, as if they aren’t totally vulnerable while they sleep. All of Catra’s survival instincts rankle against it, but she slowly shuffles a bit closer.

“Are you sure?”

Entraptra looks at her, a bit confused, and speaks as cheerfully as ever:

“Of course! Three is better than two, right?”

Catra’s tail whips in circles behind her, her only outwardly sign of her discomfort, but she slowly lets herself crawl into the space between them. Once she’s settled, Entraptra carefully and gently lies an arm over her and Scorpia, closing her into their huddle of bodies. It’s not quite enough to make Catra feel trapped. Entraptra smiles at her, seemingly overjoyed at her presence, and cuddles in closer to her. Catra tries not to stiffen at the contact. Entraptra closes her eyes with no hesitation and drops back to sleep with no problem.

The only sound is their quiet breathing and the hum of the machine and Catra is perfectly warm. She’s feels strangely safe wrapped up in them and she hisses to herself. She shouldn’t be letting them be this close to her, but it feels so right. Slowly, jumping at every little noise, she drifts off to sleep. It’s the best sleep she’s had since Adora left.

\---------


	3. trouble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short chapter now that I've finished season two! It didn't develop the way I expected, so my plans for this story have kind of gone in the trash. I've decided to keep writing it as canon compliant, which unfortunately I will have to wait to see the new seasons before updating

\---------

 

Entraptra jumps as Catra storms into her lab, slamming her hand on the table she passes by. The pink haired princess drops a tool, which clatters across the floor. She pushes up her mask to reveal wide red eyes.

“Hello Catra. Is something wrong? You seem upset, but I’m not the best at reading people.”

Catra feels her fangs digging into her lips as she snarls at her.

“Yes, entraptra, something is very wrong. What’s wrong is that you went against my orders and went into Hordak’s lab. To make things even worse, he’s now taken a liking to you. Are your purposely trying to undermine my position or are you too just too dumb to notice when you’re messing with my carefully laid plans?”

Entraptra shrinks in on herself, her hair swirling protectively around her. Scorpia, who had been standing to the side until now, comes forward and puts a comforting pincer on her shoulder. Catra does her best not to feel bad at making Entraptra feel hurt. Entraptra stutters out quietly:

“I’m sorry Catra. I know you told me not to go in there, and I shouldn’t have done that, but I promise I wasn’t trying to undermine you. I would never do that, you’re my friend.”

Catra sighs, burying her face in a hand. Scorpia is looking at her pleadingly and Entraptra won’t meet her eyes, which takes away a lot of the angry energy she’s built up.

“Fine. What’s done is done, it can’t be changed now. And you’ll have to keep working with him, but I want you to be careful. He’s still dangerous for you to be around, even if he likes you at the moment. And please try not to come up with any more surprises, okay?”

Entraptra nods, her hair mimicking the movement, and Scorpia grins at Catra, apparently glad her anger has passed. Catra shakes her hand at them and growls:

“You do understand that I am just trying to keep you safe? I give orders for a reason, not just because I want to.”

Scorpia looks intensely earnest all of a sudden and rushes forwards, taking Catra’s clawed hand in her pincer.

“We understand that Catra. And thank you, for trying to look out for us.”

Catra extricates her hand and and takes a few steps back, tail twitching in irritation.

“Fine. Be more careful, then.”

Scorpia and Entrpatra nod in unison.

“We will.”

Catra turns on her heel and leaves them, her skin still crawling. Admitting any sort of emotional attachment is dangerous. She needs to be more careful. But Scorpia and Entraptra have wormed their way beneath her skin.

\--------


End file.
